Revelations of a Twelve Year Old
by LadyRhyanne
Summary: Twelve year old Dean comes to three realizations in his life. One Shot. Rating for language.


Disclaimer - I don't own Supernatural, Dean or Sam Winchester...at least not in the real world.

Author's Note - This has been kicking around in my head annoying the voices that preside there since the episode "The Benders" and they have gone on strike and refuse to let me finish my chaptered Supernatural fan fic until I get rid of this. So here we are, it's not what I had been planning as my first Supernatural fan fiction but hope you enjoy all the same. Oh and Rossberg Montana does not exsist anywhere but in my head.

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Revelations of a Twelve Year Old

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"I've said it before and I'll say it again, Demons I get. People are crazy." - Dean from "The Benders" episode

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Dean Winchester was twelve years old when he first came to three very poignant realizations in his life, the first was that stupid mundane shit could happen even to a Winchester, the second was perhaps not all of what could be considered the "normal life" was bad but for the most part he definitely preferred his un-normal life and the third was when it occurred to him that he understood demons better than people. 

The first came when his father was hurt; not by something they generally fought but by a drink driver who ran a stop sign and t-boned his father's truck on the driver's side. The collision hadn't been bad enough to seriously hurt the eldest Winchester but bad enough that his father's left thighbone had been broken in two places, effectively trapping the nomad family in the little town of Rossberg Montana for at least six weeks, if not longer.

The only upside to be seen from that little fiasco was that the drunk was the younger sister of the mayor who would do just about anything to protect his wayward sibling. Which in this situation meant paying for the repair to the truck that in no way would the woman's insurance company cover when she had been impaired and paying for their motel stay and his father's medical bills plus two thousand dollars cash as "hush" money.

Somehow Dean didn't think this was the first time that the man had bailed his sister out of a sticky situation nor did he believe it would be the last. But if the man was willing to cover just about all their costs for two months none of the Winchesters were going to complain, at least not in public.

The second and third came the first week of attending Rossberg middle school and they happened in the most unusual way.

As was the norm, he was the outsider, the new guy in class that no one was willing to immediately make friends with but that was okay because unbeknownst to his classmates, Dean didn't want to make friends. What for when they would be leaving in six weeks to two months anyway.

So once again he found himself wandering aimlessly between the rows of books in another school library, not really looking for anything in particular, just staying out of sight but within earshot of most of his class. It had become his usual lunch hour habit to practice honing his eavesdropping skills; people sometimes let things slip when they didn't know they were being overheard and sometimes the information led to new jobs.

And if there was anything Dean wanted more than to be watching the tiny town of Rossberg receding in the side mirror of his father's truck, it was something to do, something to fight, because at least that way he wouldn't feel like his time was being wasted.

"So what did the doctor say?"

The voice was coming from just on the other side of the row of books he was currently prowling and although he couldn't think of the girl's name he could easily recall her from memory. Short, thin, shoulder length blond hair, green eyes, not stand out pretty but definitely not hard on the eyes either to a boy who had started to discover girls as something other than a giggling, not to be rough housed with because they were delicate, annoyance the year before.

"Some drabble about not understand how a twelve year old could possibly have a bleeding ulcer. Mutterings that the schools were pushing us too soon and teen magazines making us feel less than perfect all the time and not to worry if I was a late bloomer, that eventually boys would find me a beautiful flower."

Another image overtook the first one, this girl was dark where her friend was fair and actually more attractive, at least to his tastes and she was thin like the first but with long, dark auburn hair. Still none of that was what he had first noticed about her; instead it had been her eyes. Not the color, although no matter how loath he was to admit it even to himself, he had noticed that they were hazel, but the cynicism he saw in them. It was something he recognized instantly, for he saw the exact same thing staring out at him from his bathroom mirror every morning.

It intrigued him, simply because he wanted to know why it was there. A part of him selfishly hoping it was because someone else knew the truth about what lurked in the dark, perhaps someone his own age he could finally confide in if only for a short time.

He thought about what she was saying about having an ulcer, it was not something he had ever been afflicted with and considering his life it was pretty surprising but if his father was right and girls were so delicate he could grudgingly understand why. After all the monsters that lurked in the dark weren't scary to him anymore but they definitely could be hard on the nerves.

"I mean seriously, stress because of boys." She snorted darkly. "Please!"

He listened to the shuffling of feet, "What did you tell him?"

"Other than a polite thank you and my best "you're such an intelligent adult" smile not a damn thing. I mean lets face it had I told him the truth what could he had done about it?"

"Child services." The voice of the blond was small, scared sounding.

"Ah fuck Child Services." The second snarled, "They are so busy running around looking for their asses that they wouldn't know a kid in need if said kid ran up and kicked them square in the balls. Besides I don't need child services, I'm not being sexually or physically abused now am I?"

"Well no I guess not but come on Sash even you've got to admit that your home life is crap. I mean when was the last time you had an article of clothing that wasn't a hand me down other than your runners? And when was the last time it wasn't up to you to make sure there was food in the fridge or dinner on the table? And when was the last time you saw either of your parents sober? And when was the last time a week went by that they weren't trying to beat the shit out of each other?"

"No big Mel." Sasha assured her friend. "After all don't they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? I figure by the time I'm sixteen and able to legally get the hell out of Dodge that nothing will be able to touch me."

He knew she meant to sound off handed and perhaps she had even managed to fool her friend but he knew different. He had heard the pain laced in her words, the longing, undoubtedly for something better, it too was something he was familiar with even if those particular emotions were only allowed in his thoughts.

He shook his head, admittedly he hadn't been around long enough to have overheard many of the town's dirty little secrets but so far the two he knew of, the mayor's sister and Sasha's home life, although new to him, were not unfamiliar territory. It seemed that every place they stayed briefly he heard about someone lying, cheating on a spouse, abusing their kids in some form or another, a killer from a good family, the secrets never ended. And if this was what was considered normal in the white picket fence, two storey, four bedroom, two point four kids world then he wanted nothing to do with it. If the normal life hid monsters he couldn't fight and caused people to live a sham and pretend their world was perfect he would take his un-normal life over it any day.

The shuffling of feet caught his attention once more and in response he silently slipped farther back down the row.

_ Demons I get_. It suddenly occurred to him as he watched the two friends walk past, now more aware of the faded blue jeans that were obviously boys and were at least one size too big on the girl and the cotton blouse that had at one time probably been black but now faded to a slate grey. _People are crazy._

End

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Reviews appreciated, Constructive criticism welcome and Flamers ignored. 


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